Battlefields: Veil Walkers Book Three

Epilogue

Costa Rica, 1822 CE - Danika

Danika blotted at the blood trickling down her arm with the corner of her shirt and frowned at the aftermath. It had been a hard-won battle, and many had been wounded. Of course, that was all before the man had risen from the ashes of the only home caught in the demon-started forest fire. He shouldn't be alive. The computer told them as much. Since Danika had been the one to find him, the duty fell to her.

She had never killed before, not a human, at any rate. Three dozen missions later and she still wasn't comfortable with all of this, but she was, at least, a functioning member of the team. This had been the third survivor during that time.

"You can stay here in the ruins of your life," Sumiko explained, "Or you can cross that threshold. You have til the count of one hundred—"

The man interrupted her with a scream. He turned to flee.

Danika calmly stepped forward, drew her dagger, and stabbed it through his heart from behind. As he collapsed, she wiped the blood from her blade and picked her way through the rubble to stand with her friends. Keegan gave her an understanding smile and took her hand in his, motioning to the portal he had recently opened.

"I'm fine," Danika answered the question before he could ask it. "I know my role in this. The timeline must be preserved."

Keegan examined the wound on her arm and nodded. "Indeed. Come, sister, let's get you home. I don't want this to get infected."

She understood it now: how they regarded death with such grace. Although none of her teammates had died, she had seen many victims fall to demons, and it led her to see the truth that Keegan had once tried to explain. Life was precious, but their task was greater than any one soul's worth. What they did, they did for the sake of everyone, even those yet to be born. After all, if the timeline wasn't intact, how could anyone enjoy the time they had been given?

And in the end, all anyone ever had was time.